One journalist killed, another reported missing in Syria

October 16, 2012 4:23 PM ET

New York, October 16, 2012--The heavy toll on news media
covering the conflict in Syria has grown yet again over the past week as a
journalist for a pro-government TV station was killed and a Ukrainian
journalist working for Russian news outlets is believed to be kidnapped.

"Covering the conflict in Syria has become the most
dangerous assignment for journalists in the world. It is particularly dangerous
for local Syrian journalists who risk becoming targets because of perceived
affiliations," said CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney. "All sides must
remember that journalists are civilians and must not be targeted for simply
doing their job."

Mohammed al-Ashram, a cameraman for the TV station
Al-Ikhbariya, was shot and killed on October 10 while covering clashes between
Syrian government forces and the rebel Free Syrian Army in the eastern city of
Deir Al-Zour, according to his employer.

Al-Ashram was shot in the chest and leg, Al-Ikhbariya
reported. Imad Sara, the station's director, told
Agence France-Presse that al-Ashram "was killed by terrorists." Since the start
of the uprising in March 2011, the regime has used "terrorists" as a catch-all
phrase for all opposition fighters, according to news reports.

While CPJ research indicates that many of the fatalities in
Syria have been at the hands of government forces, an increasing number
of attacks against
journalists and news outlets seen as pro-government have been attributed to
rebel forces. At least 23 other journalists have been killed while covering the
Syrian conflict since November, including one killed just over the border in
Lebanon, making Syria the most dangerous place in the world for journalists,
according to CPJ research.

Anhar Kochneva, a Ukrainian who has contributed to several Russian
news outlets including the Moscow-based broadcast outlet Russia Today, disappeared on October
9, according to news
reports. Russia Today reported that
one of Kochneva's colleagues said she had gone to Homs to prepare a report for
the Russian television station NTV. She is believed to have been kidnapped in
Homs near the Lebanese border, the report said.

Oleksandr Dikusarov, a spokesman for the Ukrainian foreign
ministry, told
Agence France-Presse that Kochneva had contacted NTV on October 12 or 13 and told
them she was being held by the rebel Free Syrian Army but was being treated
satisfactorily. Dikusarov said Ukraine and Russia were working to secure Kochneva's
release, according to The
Associated Press.

Kochneva, 40, is a fluent Arabic speaker and has been
working in Syria for the past year, according to news reports. She has publicly
defended the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in television interviews to
Russian and Syrian pro-regime news outlets and has reportedly received
threatening text messages, according to news reports.

Three other international journalists disappeared
in Syria in August. Turkish cameraman Cüneyt Ünal and reporter Bashar Fahmi, a
Jordanian citizen of Palestinian origin, who work for the U.S.
government-funded Al-Hurra, were reported missing in the northwestern city of
Aleppo on August 20, and U.S. freelance journalist Austin Tice also disappeared
in mid-August, according to news reports. Tice is believed to be held in Syrian
state custody, according to the U.S. State Department. Ünal appeared in a video
on Al-Ikhbariya six days after his capture, but did not specify who his captors
were. Fahmi's whereabouts remain unknown.

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Video emerges of Ukrainian journalist captive in Syria

November 14, 2012 4:13 PM ET

New York, November 14, 2012--A Ukrainian journalist who was kidnapped in Syria in mid-October appeared in a short video last week pleading for her embassy to meet the demands of her captors, according to news reports. At least two other international journalists are believed to be held captive in...